Kouboo sells home decor products that are handmade from natural materials, such as rattan vines. Kouboo was started by Patrice and Joey Gerber with products sourced from the Philippines, and sourcing expanded to Indonesia and Myanmar. The handmade nature of the products provides significant employment opportunities in GSP countries, especially for women weavers in poor, rural areas.

As Kouboo has grown, GSP savings rose dramatically: from a few hundred dollars per month in 2013 to a few thousand dollars per week in 2020. So has the number of women artisans supported by Kouboo’s GSP imports into the United States.

In the first clip, Patrice explains how higher tariffs from GSP expiration, along with global shipping delays and the pandemic, combine to create the “perfect storm” for his business. While Kouboo converted one part-time worker into a full-time worker on January 1 (it’s first non-family member), the impact of higher tariffs plus higher shipping costs forced Kouboo to put plans for another full-time hire on hold.

In the second clip, Patrice provides information on how their products are manufactured, and how GSP/their products provide employment opportunities, especially to rural women. Since men’s agricultural income typically isn’t enough, the women’s income reduces pressure for children to work – improving access to education – as well as pressure to leave the rural areas for urban ones in search of jobs. The unique nature of the products, and limited alternative employment options in the villages, means lost GSP hurts many without even the possibility that someone else could gain.

Kouboo is a great example of how lost GSP hurts companies and workers in both the United States and developing countries. If you’re like Kouboo and harmed by GSP expiration, please add your name to our free GSP supporter list.

GSP eliminates hundreds of thousands of dollars in tariffs annually on Cannon’s imports from Myanmar and Sri Lanka. The savings are passed along to Cannon’s customers, while helping those GSP countries “compete with giants like China.”

Watch CEO Frank Cannon explain how why its so important for Congress to renew GSP this year.

If you’re a GSP importer, submit your own video testimonial here.

GSP eliminates $25,000 to $30,000 in tariffs annually on panels designed in the United States and manufactured in Thailand. The savings help Vtronix keep costs low for its customers — SME American manufacturers — who in turn are better able to compete against large, multinational producers.

Watch founder Anil Gowda explain how “this year, especially with Covid…renewing GSP would be a great benefit for us.”

If you’re a GSP importer, submit your own video testimonial here.

Last week, the House passed GSP renewal legislation by a vote of 400-2. Though Senate procedural rules make a stand-alone vote in the Senate unlikely, the expected result would be similar. (The last Senate vote was 97-1.) Despite overwhelming support in the House and Senate – and Administration support for a 3-year renewal – American companies and workers continue to suffer while waiting for GSP renewal.

Take Montana Fly Company (MFC) in Columbia Falls, Montana, a town of about 5,000 people between Flathead Lake and Glacier National Park. MFC imports artificial fishing flies from Cambodia that face tariffs of 9% without GSP. High tariff rates mean high expiration costs for MFC, which generally saves between $10,000 and $20,000 per month from GSP. Adam Trina, MFC Founder and President, had this to say about the lapse in GSP benefits:

GSP expiration immediately impacted Montana Fly’s business. Fishing season is over and as a seasonal business, cash flows are extremely important. All resources must go toward daily operations and the building of inventory for the following season. We laid off 3 workers here in Montana, one from higher-level management and 2 mid-level employees. We also had to let go 8 people in Cambodia.

We need to find more areas to cut as our total duty in 2018 will be around $200,000. Due to the duration of the previous GSP expiration, we can’t afford to wait around hoping GSP renewal will get passed, so we have taken and are taking immediate action. 

For MFC, which had 27 US employees in late 2017, the layoffs represent about 10% of its workers. Large companies may have the financial resources to absorb tariff costs while waiting for Congress to act, but that is not feasible for small businesses like Montana Fly. It simply isn’t possible to come up with $10,000 to $20,000 a month without cutting back significantly in other places, such as as payroll.

The longer Congress waits to act, the more uncertainty and disruption it causes for companies and workers alike.

Is GSP expiration similarly impacting your company? If so, let us know how by completing this form. As always, no company-specific information will be published without explicit permission.

Based in Plano, Texas, Custom Direct is a US supplier of luggage, bags and cases with 10 employees. The company works with manufacturers in Cambodia that generally qualify for duty-free treatment under GSP. The company hasn’t paid any extra import tariffs due to GSP expiration, but the costs are quite real. According to Custom Direct’s CEO [emphasis added]:

We lost our largest project of the year, the opportunity to supply 2.5 million eyeglass cases to a major US customer as part of a Q-1 project. We were the successful bidder and awaiting the purchase order when we became aware that Congress had failed to renew GSP.  

The duty on cases would have added 17.6% to our cost of goods which we could not simply “hope” to recoup some day if GSP were to be re-instated. We had no choice but to withdraw and the business went to a supplier in China instead. We are still in the running for Q-3, but without GSP allowing us to partner with a Cambodian manufacturer, the project will go to China again.

The loss of business made us delay plans to hire 6 people in Texas and adjust revenue forecasts downward. Our US warehouse subcontractor also delayed plans to hire additional American workers to handle marking and labeling, packing, and distribution of the eyeglass cases. We are a small business and the loss of such a large client is perilous to our bottom line.

Custom Direct is a textbook example of why even retroactive renewals that refund tariffs paid can’t “make companies whole.” There are no tariff refunds for sales that were never made – something we highlighted on Tuesday as well. The longer Congress allows GSP to remain expired, the greater the risk of major losses for companies like Custom Direct that must compete against suppliers in countries like China that are not impacted by GSP expiration.

Is GSP expiration similarly impacting your company? If so, let us know how by completing this form. As always, no company-specific information will be published without explicit permission.

We are a small, family-owned business that has been manufacturing, importing, and distributing poly bags since 1876 (142 years). Sandbags from India are a major part of our business – the majority of which end up being sold through our distributors to government municipalities for flood relief.

This year, we are worried that we have no choice but to raise our prices to factor in the increased duty, as the unrest in Washington seems to be at an all-time high, and our confidence in a retroactive renewal is not as strong as it has been in previous years.

While we continue to navigate this situation, we have put several expansion plans for 2018 on-hold, including hiring additional sales and operations staff for our Cranbury, NJ facility.

Higher costs and uncertainty about renewal make any big decisions difficult, particularly for small businesses like Halsted. Decision-making becomes harder every day as new shipments arrive and the amount of taxes paid grows, making it critical for Congress to pass GSP renewal legislation quickly.

Is GSP expiration similarly impacting your company? If so, let us know how by completing this form. As always, no company-specific information will be published without explicit permission.

When GSP expired in 2013, Fab-Line was forced to raise prices to compensate for those new import taxes. Ultimately the company paid about $350,000 in new tariffs. This hurt the company, which had to lay off one employee, and the American manufacturers that now had to pay more for Fab-Line’s equipment.

The retroactive renewal allowed Fab-Line to hire 2 new workers – a service manager and a service engineer. Yet Fab-Line President Patrick Canning says another potential expiration threatens the company again:

“If the GSP does not get signed I will raise my pricing to pay for the duties and of course that will have a negative impact on my business.”

GSP may not expire until December 31, but the decision date is much sooner for Fab-Line. According to our newest survey, Fab-Line will start placing orders for 2018 delivery in mid-August. If Congress has not renewed GSP before the August recess, Fab-Line will be forced to guess whether orders will be subject to extra taxes.

“Job creation is a top priority for the Trump administration. As we kick off World Trade Week, it is a pleasure to honor these companies who increase our domestic exports and create good paying jobs for the American people.”

The recognition is well-deserved. The organizations show the benefits of engaging in the global economy as opposed to shrinking from it. Yet this is World Trade Week – not just World Export Week – and imports support millions of American jobs too. So we propose the creation of a President’s “I” Award to honor companies whose imports create good paying, American jobs.

Who should be honored with an inaugural President’s “I” Award? We humbly submit the following companies using the GSP program for consideration:

• MS International in Orange, California: The family-owned business doubled its domestic capex and created 280 new jobs (+30%) between August 2015 and December 2016. Like the GSP benefits, the hiring spree has continued in 2017.

• Xpres LLC in Winston-Salem, North Carolina: When import tariffs went up, this small business had to delay key investments and rely upon temporary workers. Since GSP was renewed and tariffs reduced, it has hired 17 full-time employees (+64%) and started providing employees with new benefits.

• Thompson Traders in Greensboro, North Carolina: After seven years of hard work to “break even” in 2013, this start-up had to lay off 8 of 20 employees because GSP expired and tariffs went up. With GSP back in place, it has hired 13 new workers (+108%) and initiated a program to try to manufacture in the United States.

• Univeral Arquati in Santa Clarita, California: The small business froze hiring and investments when U.S. tariffs increased and its products became lost competitiveness to similar Chinese imports. With GSP renewed, it has created 12 new jobs (+19%) and made additional investments to increase future growth opportunities.

• Kona Bicycle in Ferndale, Washington: The small business put development of new models – and their associated jobs – on hold when U.S. tariffs on its imports increased. Since duty-free benefits resumed, Kona has hired 9 new workers (+33%): 5 in product development and sales (reported at the link) and 4 more at a new showroom in Bellingham, Washington (not reported previously).

• PolySource LLC in Independence, Missouri: A supplier of thermoplastic resins and compounds to American manufacturers of global consumer goods (e.g., autos, aerospace products), the small business delayed 2 new hires as a result of new tariffs. PolySource created 5 new jobs (+45%) in the year after GSP renewal eliminated tariffs.

• B&C Technologies in Panama City Beach, Florida: The small business is in its fifth facility – each bigger than the last – in the last 14 years. Yet GSP expiration prevented it from completing required renovations. Since GSP renewal, B&C has hired 3 new workers (+11%) and hopes to hire at least 5 more soon.

If your company has a similar story, leave it in the comment section below or contact Dan Anthony from the Coalition for GSP.

New tariffs from GSP expiration in 2013 put the company’s products at a disadvantage to Chinese mouldings, which typically account for 70+ percent of US imports. In total, Universal Arquati paid about $185,000 in extra taxes because of GSP expiration. The uncertainty regarding when, or even if, those taxes might be refunded led Universal Arquati to freeze all hiring and investments.

After 7 years of trials and tribulations, the start-up company reached break-even in 2013 and had grown to 20 employees. Then Congress allowed GSP to expire. As Thompson Traders’ President Fred Starr reported in January 2015:

“Due to our financial position and our inability to pass this charge onto our customers, we had to slow down growth, including hiring. We would be a different company today without this totally unanticipated tariff. We’ve reduced our payroll by eight people, a 40% reduction and will not be adding people, until we have a better government environment, including the renewing of GSP.”

Ultimately, Thompson Traders paid $220,000 in higher taxes during the two-year GSP expiration.

With GSP reinstated and tariffs refunded, the company reinvested all of the refunds back into the business. The company initiated a major new product line in a new market in 2015. Thompson Traders rolled out stocking programs with three of its biggest customers and initiated a program to try to manufacture in the United States.

Today, Thompson Traders has 25 employees – more than before GSP expired in 2013 (and double the 12-employee low hit during GSP expiration). Growing sales meant that GSP saved the company nearly as much ($180,000) in the first year of renewal and it did in the two years of expiration ($220,000).

Our Thompson Traders profile page has more details about the importance of continued GSP benefits to the company (also available as a one-page PDF here or below).

Thompson Traders is just one of the GSP importers sharing how GSP allows its businesses and workers to thrive on our Company Profiles page.